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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Kurtis Foster could not have hoped for a better start to his Devils’ career.

The Devils have won all three games the 6-foot-5, 226-pound defenseman has played since joining the team in last Monday’s trade with Anaheim and he’s fit in well already, getting power-play time and playing regularly at even-strength.

He picked up his first two points as a Devil with a pair of power-play assists in Saturday’s 5-3 win in Montreal.

“To come in and have the team win three games and pick up a couple of points and be able to step right in and just play consistently on the power play and just be able to play, it’s been a nice feeling to feel a part of a team again,” Foster told me this morning.

That was the most frustrating part for Foster in Anaheim. After missing the start of the season while recovering from surgery on his thigh, he played in only nine games for the Ducks and did not play regularly on the power play.

“When you’re sitting out, you kind of feel like you’re just – not that you’re rotting, but you feel you can help and when you’re sitting out or you’re just skating every day and you’re just trying to be prepared for when you get in, it’s tough to go to the rink every day,” Foster said. “But when you know that you’re part of the guys and the coaches want you in every night, it definitely gets you fired up and gets you more excited.”

In Foster’s nine games with the Ducks, who acquired him from Edmonton in an offseason trade, he had one goal and one assist and averaged 15:07 in ice time. He’s averaged 20:33 in ice time in his first three games as a Devil.

“That’s what I think I can do,” Foster said. “I’m pretty honest with myself. I don’t think I’m a guy that’s ever going to be a 26-, 27-minutes a night guy, but I think I’m a guy who can play dependable minutes and play against any line and chip in on the power play as much as I can. If they ever do need me on the (penalty kill), I’m there and ready and know what to do.”

The power play is the reason why the Devils traded for Foster and that is where he’s already made his most noticeable impact. He’s been playing the right point on the first power-play unit with Ilya Kovalchuk on the left point. Zach Parise, Patrik Elias and David Clarkson have been up front on the first unit, but with Elias battling the flu and unable to play tonight against the Rangers, Adam Henrique will take Elias’ spot on the first unit.

Foster said the power-play set-up is “very similar” to what the Tampa Bay Lightning used when he was there two seasons ago and Devils assistant coach Adam Oates was in charge of it.

“If you look at it straight up, you’ve got Patty Elias where Marty St. Louis was,” Foster said. “You’ve got Zach where Vinny (Lecavalier) and you’ve got Clarkie in the middle where Steve Downie was and Kovy where (Steven Stamkos) was. So, for me, it’s a pretty similar set-up, so I know where guys are going to be and what the plays are.

“If you watched the game against Montreal, when they try to take away my shot and Kovy’s shot, that really opens up Patty and Zach. When you can have Zach Parise and Patrik Elias with a 2-on-1 on one side of the ice, you’re in good hands. There’s so many options. If we keep it simple and play to our strengths, I think the power play is going to start clicking and do some damage.”

Although the power play did not produce a goal in Foster’s first two games, the power play seems to have been making progress and has moved the puck better with each game.

“I feel that like in the three games that I’ve been here, we’ve moved it around really well,” Foster said. “Last game was the first game that we got a couple goals, but I thought we’ve had sustained pressure, we had some open shots, we’ve really had some good chances. At the end of the day, the stats only count for the goals, but when you’re creating chances every power play, that’s all you can ask. When you get a certain amount of chances and you have a guy like Kovalchuk who is that good of a shooter, you know the puck is going to go in.”

And, there seems to be some confidence growing from the power play now where previously more often than not it would seem to halt whatever momentum the team was building at even strength.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,” Devils coach Pete DeBoer said. “I think that they’re more fluid up top, moving the puck around. Teams have to respect (Foster’s) shot and he’s not afraid to take it, which opens up other things. So, I think there’s a definite confidence boost and I think we’re going to see the results of that as we go forward here.”

DeBoer said the key is Foster’s big, right-handed shot.

“The more he shoots he puck, the more they’re going to have to respect that,” DeBoer said. “Because he’s got a real weapon back there at the top.”

There’s still work to do on the power play (the Devils are still just 25th in the NHL with a 13.7 percent success rate), but now they feel they’re finally headed in the right direction.

“It’s just a matter of getting used to each other and as long as I can shoot it every night and make the other team realize they’ve got to take away my shot, it just opens up everybody else,” Foster said. “That’s something that I’ve got to be a little selfish sometimes. If I shoot the puck a little more, it definitely opens up other guys.”

A perfect example of that was Elias’ power-play goal on Saturday. The Canadiens’ were conscious of both Foster’s and Kovalchuk’s ability to shoot the puck, so that left Elias wide open on the lower right side.

“A guy came flying to me and took my shot away and then I go to Kovy and then they’re like, ‘Oh, where do we go?’” Foster said. “Then, when he’s got the puck inside, you’re thinking shot, so Patty just ends up wide open back door. Kovy is a guy that can find that pass there. Adam told me right away that Kovy is a guy that you don’t have to always get perfectly open. He’s a guy that can make that pass through skates and sticks. Patty is the same way. So, when you have that ability, it’s definitely nice.”

***

Kovalchuk has been putting up some pretty good offensive numbers during the Devils’ recent surge. He’s got two goals and five assists during the team’s four-game winning streak and six goals and eight assists over the last 11 games.

That’s not what DeBoer is most pleased with, though.

“He’s playing great,” DeBoer said. “For me, the offense was always there. I like what he’d doing defensively. With the lead in the third period, he’s dumping the puck. He’s changing at the right time. We’re starting to trust him late in games with the goalie out. He’s killing penalties. Those are the areas of the game that we need him to be good at in order to win long-term here and he’s doing those things.”

With four consecutive wins and six in their last seven games, the Devils seem to be getting the knack for the way DeBoer wants them to play. With the emergence of rookie Adam Henrique and Travis Zajac returning from a torn left Achilles, they are a deep down the middle as they’ve been (when Elias is healthy) and their offense has been clicking more consistently.

They have scored 18 goals over the last four games and scored at least five goals in three of the four games.

“There’s obviously areas that we need to improve at, including the power play and some defensive lapses here and there still in the last minute of games,” DeBoer said. “But we’re improving in a lot of areas. I think the offense is starting to come. We’re starting to gel. We’re starting to get multiple lines contributing. We’re playing better. I thought the third period in Montreal the other night was our best third period with the lead this year. We’ve got to clean up the last minute a little bit. We didn’t do a great job with the goalie out, but we’re improving and doing a lot of things better, which is the idea of this league. You’ve got to get better every day in areas.”

About

TOM GULITTI has covered the New Jersey Devils for The Record since 2002. Prior to that, he covered the New York Rangers for four years. Gulitti joined The Record in 1998 after six years at The North Jersey Herald News. He graduated from Binghamton University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric-Literature.